I was in the "meh" camp with the iPhone 5, but I don't understand why people aren't impressed with the 5S.

Because, for many, the features aren't all that amazing. a 64-bit processor means nothing for the average user (for now at least), it's an 8 MP camera in a 13 MP world, it's a dual core chip in a quad core world and it likely has significantly less memory than other flagship phones. Whether or not those are valid is irrelevant since those, in conjunction with the rather diminutive screen, will all be critiques brought up for the time coming.

Quote:

Originally Posted by TattooedMac

I agree wholeheartedly . . . 64Bit for christ sake, thats a massive, HUGE step up, [...] But come on people, its 64Bit and thats a HECK of a lot of power for a Phone..

How so? This is honestly what I don't get out of this presentation (that and the migration to what is essentially a plastic iPhone 5). The application stack won't be 64-bit compatible, in its entirety, for years since non-64 bit platforms still have to be supported. Speed gains are negligible or in some cases, 64-bit processors hinder performance (source). 64-bit applications are also larger in size as well (source). Where does it hinder performance most? Machines with less than 4GB of RAM, which is every smartphone in the world. Should (when?) smartphones reach that level, it certainly won't be Apple getting their first either. In this sense, the 64-bit processor is little more than marketing for Apple right now since, at a technical level, it may actually be detrimental in some respects.

Because, for many, the features aren't all that amazing. a 64-bit processor means nothing for the average user (for now at least), it's an 8 MP camera in a 13 MP world, it's a dual core chip in a quad core world and it likely has significantly less memory than other flagship phones. Whether or not those are valid is irrelevant since those, in conjunction with the rather diminutive screen, will all be critiques brought up for the time coming.

The average users are idiots then. More megapixels don't automatically mean better pictures. Apple is making a lot of other improvements to make the pictures better. Jacking up the number of megapixels would negate those improvements to some degree. And bear in mind that the picture quality of photos taken by the past 2-3 iPhone models have been widely considered best in class at the time those models were released. As for the A7 being a dual-core... again something that only matters to people who only focus on specs, and even then they are only narrowly focusing on specs that are widely marketed. There is so much more to processor design and indeed the design of the entire logic board that affects performance, but the industry plays up on the general ignorance of the public about this and focuses their marketing on a select few specs that grab your attention. What should matter is how it performs in real life, which they say is up to twice as fast as the iPhone 5. As someone who is still very happy with the performance of my iPhone 4S, I'd venture that any performance hits that the 64-bit architecture may bring won't even be noticeable, and being "simply" a dual-core processor won't exactly be a handicap.

So basically, yes, I guess I should understand why people are unimpressed. They are the real sheep who buy into marketing buzzwords. It's the whole "PC vs Mac" wars based on specs all over again.

Quote:

How so? This is honestly what I don't get out of this presentation (that and the migration to what is essentially a plastic iPhone 5). The application stack won't be 64-bit compatible, in its entirety, for years since non-64 bit platforms still have to be supported. Speed gains are negligible or in some cases, 64-bit processors hinder performance (source). 64-bit applications are also larger in size as well (source). Where does it hinder performance most? Machines with less than 4GB of RAM, which is every smartphone in the world. Should (when?) smartphones reach that level, it certainly won't be Apple getting their first either. In this sense, the 64-bit processor is little more than marketing for Apple right now since, at a technical level, it may actually be detrimental in some respects.

It's only a matter of time before they will really NEED to go to 64-bit architecture, so why not start now, especially if there is no practical downside to it? If for no other reason, it will get their developers a head start.

That quote fails to recognize that mapping considerably more memory space hits the battery hard which might explain why most phones (Android ones at least since it's these phones that play the spec game) only go to 2GB and no further. If the purpose of the 64 bit processor is indeed to enable greater memory stores, I hope Apple spent a lot of time scaling back the power usage in the A7 cores. I imagine that they know of all this though.

As for the 5s, not much left in the Apple pipeline. What little there is gets scooped weeks ahead of announcement.

This phone should've had a larger screen.

Totally disagree. I want a phone not a tablet. Some of the sizes of phones are ridiculous. I mean if they want to have a couple different sizes..ok, but don't make them all big. I love the size of the iPhone just the way it is.

That quote fails to recognize that mapping considerably more memory space hits the battery hard which might explain why most phones (Android ones at least since it's these phones that play the spec game) only go to 2GB and no further. If the purpose of the 64 bit processor is indeed to enable greater memory stores, I hope Apple spent a lot of time scaling back the power usage in the A7 cores. I imagine that they know of all this though.

If the battery life truly is the same as or better than the iPhone 5 as they claim, then I guess they have. Unless they figured out how to squeeze a bigger battery in there.

Totally disagree. I want a phone not a tablet. Some of the sizes of phones are ridiculous. I mean if they want to have a couple different sizes..ok, but don't make them all big. I love the size of the iPhone just the way it is.

A larger screen doesn't make it a tablet. My phone has a 4.7" screen and it's hardly a tablet. In fact, it's amazing how quickly you come to appreciate the screen size difference.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

If the battery life truly is the same as or better than the iPhone 5 as they claim, then I guess they have. Unless they figured out how to squeeze a bigger battery in there.

They managed to keep the numbers relatively consistent from the 5 to the 5s. Depending what you read, that's either sufficient or it fails to keep up with the growth in batteries available in other phones (searching for a clear answer to this is like searching for an objective answer to the question "which is the best colour?").

A larger screen doesn't make it a tablet. My phone has a 4.7" screen and it's hardly a tablet. In fact, it's amazing how quickly you come to appreciate the screen size difference.

Maybe so, because I haven't used one for a long period of time. I have only held them at stores and used other peoples for a little bit. So you never know, but I like the size of the iPhone from what I know

They managed to keep the numbers relatively consistent from the 5 to the 5s. Depending what you read, that's either sufficient or it fails to keep up with the growth in batteries available in other phones (searching for a clear answer to this is like searching for an objective answer to the question "which is the best colour?").

The growth in battery capacity is in part made possible by the growth in the size of those phones, thus allowing for bigger batteries.

Personally I think Apple should and eventually will make a larger iPhone available. It may not be entirely feasible right now because they will still be making the 4S for another year, and I suspect they don't want to throw in a 3rd screen size into production.

Maybe so, because I haven't used one for a long period of time. I have only held them at stores and used other peoples for a little bit. So you never know, but I like the size of the iPhone from what I know

It's all about expectations and preferences. For example, I know that when I hold an iPhone, all I can think is "What is this? A centre for ants?" (bonus points if you get the reference). That doesn't make it bad, just unexpected.

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

The growth in battery capacity is in part made possible by the growth in the size of those phones, thus allowing for bigger batteries.

True. The size does afford space for a larger battery (hence why the Note 2 can last, apparently, for days on end).

Quote:

Originally Posted by lifeisabeach

Personally I think Apple should and eventually will make a larger iPhone available. It may not be entirely feasible right now because they will still be making the 4S for another year, and I suspect they don't want to throw in a 3rd screen size into production.

I wonder if Apple can get around this issue by doing what they did with the iPad Mini - change the size and resolution but keep the ratio the same.

It's all about expectations and preferences. For example, I know that when I hold an iPhone, all I can think is "What is this? A centre for ants?" (bonus points if you get the reference). That doesn't make it bad, just unexpected.

ha ha... I was racking my brain... I knew I had heard it before, and finally had to go the where all of the answers are... Google

How can we be expected to teach children to learn how to read... if they can't even fit inside the building?

I have nothing against the 5S. I just don't see much improvement for todays usage with it. 64-Bit maybe down the road but not now? Fingerprint? That scares me.

But I do agree with LB, Megapixels mean NOTHING by themselves. It's the Lens quality and with that processor and new lens it's an amazing camera. I disagree it's a SLR in every way but it's outstanding. I saw some shots Anand and his partner took, It's an excellent camera with far better pics than ones with much higher MP.

the whole MP thing reminds me of the High End audio people back when I was a kid. WATTS is everything, No it's not, Low Distortion, THD, IM and Transient IM is much more important than just WATTS. Also Watts at what frequency bandwidth.

I have owned 3MP cameras that took better pics than some newer poorly designed 6MP cameras.

It was the 5c that really did not impress me as it's a plastic 5 with the same specs. The lower price is nice though and I like the blue one.

I don't use a pass code to use my phone so the finger print thing is a feature that I thought looked "cool", but nothing more. Also, unless I'm mistaken, it can be turned off. You don't have to use your fingerprint to use your phone. Conspiracy theory averted.

I'm in the market for a new iPad, so I was kinda hoping they might throw in an announcement about a new line of iPads too. Oh well, maybe in a month or two.

Colors are interesting and I actually like the uninterrupted flow of a one-piece phone body. But it's just not for me. Don't like the gold color either.

Excited to get my hands on iOS 7 next week!

16GB iPhone 5, 64GB Wi-Fi only iPad 1st Gen.

Reminder: Please include your Mac's specs. This will make it much easier for the other members to assist you.

Can you provide a URL that says Fingerprint scanning to log in can be turned off? I have yet to see that mentioned.

It was merely the impression I got from the keynote. I could be wrong, but I'm understanding it to be a feature the same as a lock screen is optional. If it's non-optional, that would really be annoying. Not everyone will want that feature. Hmm...

16GB iPhone 5, 64GB Wi-Fi only iPad 1st Gen.

Reminder: Please include your Mac's specs. This will make it much easier for the other members to assist you.